Tag: fantasy

Ssylphiel and Calliope spoke alone after the celebration. “Heck of a way to start a birthday, huh?” said Ssylphiel.

“No kidding,” agreed Calliope. “To learn that there are realities beyond what our gods created for us? …That’s a bit heavy.”

“…Calliope, look, we’ve had our moments. I don’t agree with your methods and you don’t agree with mine. …But you fight against evil in your own way and…well…that DOES make you an ideal candidate to replace Anacassandra-.”

“Lady Octopus herself snuck out and spoke to me,” replied Calliope.

“I thought I saw her missing after a bit,” said Ssylphiel.

“Well, I’m sorry to say that my answer then is the same as now. I must refuse. I feel like being a Divine Cecaelia would blunt not only my life, but my employees’ and Lukas’. …I DO know of one who’s more than capable, though.”

“Oh?” asked Ssylphiel.

“She’s a mermaid that’s done a lot for me and she’s tried to help ease the suffering of others in her spare time. Have you heard of Maris?”

“You know, I think I’ve met her on a few occasions. Green hair, blue tail, lost an eye and had it replaced with a crystal, and wears a sea rose in her hair?”

“That’s the one!” confirmed Calliope. “If you like, I can inform her of her good fortune.”

“…Knowing you, you need something in return,” mused Ssylphiel.

“…I DO want to make a deal, but that does not need to be a term within that deal. …I want your word that, should anything happen to me, my employees and Lovely Lukas…they will be safe under your protection.”

“…That seems reasonable,” said Ssylphiel. “I vow that no harm shall come to them. They will be safe under my care should anything happen to you.”

“…Thank you. And, on the off chance something happens to you, all those you love will be safe under my care.”

“…Shall we draw up a contract then?”

“A Sacred Oath, please.” Ssylphiel’s eyes widened.

“…You’re that serious?” she asked. “…In that case, your hand.” Calliope and Ssylphiel shook each other’s hand. “I, Ssylphiel Emerald Goldcoil, do swear that, should anything happen to you, Calliope, all those you love will be safe under my protection. Let Lady Snake, Lord God, Lady Rose, Lady Rabbit, Lady Green, Lord Sand, Lord Fire, Lady Divine, and Lady Black be my witnesses!”

“I, Calliope Crystal Seer-legs, do swear that, should anything happen to you, Ssylphiel, all those you love will be safe under my protection! Let Lady Octopus, Lord Deal, Lady Lotus, Lord Bat, Lady Blue, Lady Sea, Lady Water, Lord Immortal, and Lady Black be my witnesses!” Their handshake was surrounded by light as the runes attributed to their respective Zodiac signs flashed above them. The runes and light then faded, and they broke off the handshake.

“It’s not often people like us make the Sacred Oath,” remarked Ssylphiel.

“Well, we clearly trust each other, even if we’re not friends,” replied Calliope.

“…Enough of that,” chuckled Ssylphiel. “What say we enjoy our birthday?”

“Sounds heavenly to me!” purred Calliope.

---

While Ssylphiel and Calliope made their Sacred Oath, the Doctor and Tysar returned to the TARDIS. “So the Toymaker knows about the recent developments?” asked Tysar.

“She’s not happy, but she DID declare ‘mission accomplished’,” replied the Doctor. “She and Grand Zeno will make sure everyone keeps a lookout for the Dalek Sorcerer. We’re cleared to go back to our universe.”

“Thank goodness,” sighed Tysar. “I’d like to just deal with the Grouping and…uh oh.”

“Uh oh?” asked the Doctor. She then looked back to see their local friends coming back. “Oh. Someone thinks we’re skiving.”

“Doctor?” asked Ssylphiel. “You’re not leaving, surely?! You haven’t been properly honored!”

“Believe me, Ssylphiel,” soothed the Doctor, “I am quite adequately honored. I’m sure things will run smoothly here without us or the Daleks to muck everything up.”

“No, we can muck things up on our own, as Anacassandra proved,” remarked Nora.

“You WILL help those the families of the soldiers that lost their lives to the Daleks, won’t you?” asked Tysar.

“Naturally,” replied Calliope.

“Just as we’ll ensure that all traces of the Daleks’ presence here will be destroyed,” promised Ssylphiel. “Even the Ryuginese Empire won’t touch the schematics of Dalek gunsticks, calling them honorless. We will not tolerate a Dalek foothold in the world that our Gods labored so hard over!”

“That’s good to know,” said Tysar. “Just promise us one thing.”

“Anything,” said Coilzette.

“The battles, the loss of life, don’t glamorize it. Us Thals made that mistake a few times in our history and it cost us deeply. Tell everyone the truth about what happened, all right?”

“That’s a promise,” agreed Ssylphiel. “War will NOT be glamorized as long as I rule Serpentia.”

“Tysar, are you sure you…don’t wanna…?” Bea asked shyly.

“…I’m sorry, Bea,” replied Tysar as she gave the young Bunnygirl Naga a hug. “This isn’t my world and I have to help the Doctor return our universe to normal.”

“…Don’t forget me, okay?” mumbled Bea.

“I’m holding you to that same promise, Bea,” said Tysar. They hugged for a while, then had to separate. The Doctor held the door for Tysar, then entered the TARDIS and shut the doors. The lamp flashed as the TARDIS made its usual takeoff noise and faded, kicking up a strong wind. Eventually, the TARDIS was gone as was the wind it generated.

“…She should be very proud of the work she’s putting into her home and of the work she put into ours,” mused Ssylphiel.

“Yeah,” mused Bea.

“…Speaking of work to be appreciated, who made that cake?” asked Calliope. “It looked and tasted amazing!”

“Oh, that was me!” replied Bea. “If I might brag, no one can top me in baking. Although, I DID have a question, but it’s more sort of for Nora here.”

“Aye?” asked Nora.

“It’s about the candles,” explained Bea.

“Those were perfectly acceptable candles, Bea,” interjected Ssylphiel.

“Could you imagine putting an amount of candles equal to our collective life on that cake?” asked Calliope. “Don’t really wanna celebrate a birthday with a fire hazard.”

“Yeah, Lukas suggested the two fancy candles,” said Bea. “But Grandma Coilzette also said something about the origins of birthday candles, about how they’re actually a Dwarven invention.”

“Aye, they are,” replied Nora. “We lit them so the smoke would carry our wishes and prayers to the Gods. Humans just took that idea later.”

“So they ARE culturally appropriated,” muttered Bea.

“Technically, yeah,” said Nora, “but as it’s been a long time since any Dwarf ever lit candles for that reason, I think humans are okay grandfathering that one in.”

---

Back in the TARDIS, it drifted through the local time vortex. “Doctor, are we sure that we can go back to our proper universe?” asked Tysar.

“I wouldn’t worry so much,” replied the Doctor. “Grand Zeno said he needs our help in taking care of the Grouping. So, let’s see…one has to squeeze the rim of the button…” The Doctor pulled out the button and squeezed its border. The TARDIS shook a bit, thanks to turbulence. Eventually, the shaking died down. The Doctor checked the readings and smiled. “There we are!” she said. “Back in OUR time vortex, just as I said! No doubts at all!”

“Sure,” replied Tysar. The Doctor then keyed in a query and the TARDIS displayed some readings.

“…Good, Davros IS where and when I left him,” she reported to herself mainly. “…But nothing on the Dalek Sorcerer. No one in time and space has heard of it.”

“Shouldn’t it be back on Skaro?” asked Tysar.

“That WOULD be the logical thing to do,” replied the Doctor. “But Daleks don’t always follow logic. The Movellans taught them that the hard way.”

“…But…that was an entire Dalek Saucer it escaped in,” recalled Tysar.

“Yes, not a Void Ship,” agreed the Doctor. “Unless they somehow used the technology to make one to modify their Saucer.”

“A Void Ship?” asked Tysar.

“A ship designed to cross the void between universes,” replied the Doctor. “The one I first saw was capable of defying all sorts of analysis, meaning it had no detectable mass, heat, age, or radiation. Unsettling, people call it. …And I always thought it was impossible until the Cult of Skaro and the prison ship they stole swanned out of it.” Just then, the console beeped.

“Doctor?” quizzed Tysar as the Doctor checked the readings.

“…A chronal surge!” she reported. “Earth! Japan! …No, Inkadia! The Inklings! Something’s going wrong there!”

“Doctor, what’s Inkadia?” asked Tysar.

“I’ll explain when we get there!” replied the Doctor as she set the coordinates! The TARDIS then spun through the Time Vortex en route to the site of the chronal surge.

A blue-tinted visual display entered his brain directly. He realized he was looking down at a control panel. He then heard a voice, slightly distorted by electronics, but recognizable. “Davros? …Davros? Can you hear me?” …Yes, that was his name. Davros! And the woman in front of him was the…what in…?

“That…smell…” whispered Davros through his new throat microphone implant. “I…I can smell…”

“Don’t exert yourself,” urged the woman.

“…Doctor,” he hissed. He then realized something. “…What…is wrong with my voice?!”

“Your voice box was damaged in the explosion,” replied the Doctor. “I had to replace it.” Memories then flooded Davros’ mind.

“…Ah. …I remember the explosion. …I remember the source of the detonation!”

“The Daleks exterminated Anacassandra,” confirmed the Doctor. “You were at ground zero.”

“I raised my hands to shield myself from the blast,” recalled Davros. “Foolish instinct! The light…was so intense! …I saw the bones in my hands! And as the explosion hit me…I flexed my fingers…just to see my skeleton moving!” Davros then flinched. “What…is that smell?! I-I feel-!”

“You’re back in the Serpentian Capital Citadel, Davros,” soothed the Doctor. “We’ve given you the most powerful sedatives Ssylphiel could procure.”

“I don’t think they’re working, Doctor!” Panic was rising in Davros’ voice. “WHAT IS THAT SMELL?!”

“It’s your skin,” replied the Doctor.

“…My…skin?”

“I can’t sugar-coat it; you’re back at square one. I salvaged the Dalek Sorcerer’s old casing and made it into your new chair, even going so far as to add the instruments that helped you navigate the world when we first met. It took a great deal of healing magic to keep you alive long enough and-.”

“History…repeats itself?” asked Davros.

“…Yes, it looks like,” sighed the Doctor.

“…Show me my face.”

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Show me! Show me!!”

“Davros, you are in the best hands now. The most skilled healers are tending to you and-!”

“YOU WILL SHOW ME!” By now, Davros was pointing a commanding finger at the Doctor.

“All right! You chose this!” grumbled the Doctor. “We’ll be mourning whatever sanity you had in there!” She pulled out a mirror.

“…I can’t see,” remarked Davros. “Move it down.” The Doctor lowered the mirror. “There!” Davros then gasped when he saw what happened to him. Staring back at him…was the face he had when he first met the Doctor during the creation of the Daleks. “…That is why I cannot open my eyes,” he whispered. “…The pain of doing so…” a crooked smile crossed Davros’ blackened lips, revealing equally blackened teeth. “Fascinating!”

“Oh, I always hate it when you smile like that!” complained the Doctor.

“Oh, I mourn my humanoid form, I’ll freely admit that,” interjected Davros. “It was nice to be able to taste things and feel as others do…but I must admit, I almost forgot your weakness! Good thing the Daleks did not! It served as a crucial step in their getaway!”

“Yes, I DID figure that they dumped you onto an operating table, knowing my compassion wouldn’t allow me to leave someone to die willingly, even if they were my greatest enemy.”

“Proving my own point that compassion is your greatest weakness! That my Daleks only need to understand its military value!”

“And YOU’RE proving the old adage of how a Dalek can’t change its bumps-!”

“I AM NOT A DALEK!” insisted Davros. “Even in this state, I am not-!”

“Davros, you’re the prototype Dalek!” retorted the Doctor. “You speak of killing and destruction as if that’s the only way the universe moves on, ignoring that there are MULTIPLE ways!”

“Only because their united fear of the Daleks makes them adopt such ways! But the central way is still that of conquest and war! It’s kill or be killed, Doctor!”

“All the times the Daleks betrayed you, failed you, lost territory, all the times your schemes went belly-up, and you still believe you’re doing the right thing, that you were right in creating the Daleks and that they will accept you as the ruler of the universe.”

“They WILL accept me, one way or another!” Before the Doctor could say anything more, Ssylphiel entered the room, looking fierce.

“…Your Majesty?” asked the Doctor.

“…I overheard the conversation,” said Ssylphiel. “Davros, you created a monster that would destroy any life that isn’t like itself.”

“The Unlike cannot be tolerated!” replied Davros.

“You sound like Anacassandra did. …I more than tolerate the Unlike, because the Gods themselves are unlike each other. If they can tolerate…no, if they can love each other and their differences, it really shouldn’t be that hard for people like us to do the same.”

“Then your gods deny what is real!”

“…If it were up to me, I’d have you executed for blasphemy. But there are gods higher than those I worship and they gave the Doctor a mission that required your survival. I will not interfere in that. But I must ask you one question, if you really had the power to destroy everything…would you use that power?”

“I DO have that power!” insisted Davros. “The power of life…and death! My Daleks are the culmination of that power! That power sets me up above the gods! AND THROUGH THE DALEKS, I SHALL EXERCISE THAT POWER!” The Doctor then grabbed Davros’ hand. “LET GO!” ordered Davros.

“Even you’ve heard of ‘fat chance’,” replied the Doctor as her hand hovered over a button. Davros smiled wickedly.

“We’ve been here before,” he recalled. “Our first encounter! You couldn’t press that switch before!”

“I pressed it before and you know it!” hissed the Doctor.

“What does that switch do?” asked Ssylphiel.

“It controls my life support systems,” explained Davros. “I could not survive less than thirty seconds without them.”

“Back then, I ordered him to destroy the incubation section that was keeping the Daleks alive and pressed the switch to show him how serious I was,” continued the Doctor.

“But you didn’t follow through with my execution!” chuckled Davros.

“There’s no Nyder to knock me unconscious, Davros! Now, you WILL be leaving this universe!”

“And miss the chance to create a new race of Daleks that will be utterly loyal to me?! NEVER!” The Doctor then pressed the switch! “…My life support’s still on, Doctor.”

“You’re right in that I’m not naturally a killer, so that switch DOESN’T control your life support systems,” she admitted as she released Davros, “but I gave you the option to leave this universe willingly. You should have taken it before I made the choice for you.”

“Wait! What is that buildup of energy?!” yelped Davros as his chair’s readings flashed over his camera eye.

“That, Davros, would be the one-way dimensional engine building up the charge for the trip you’re about to take,” replied the Doctor. “Stole the designs from the Saucer you arrived in.”

“You haven’t won, Doctor!” insisted Davros. “I cannot be defeated! I CANNOT BE KILLED! I! AM! DAVROOOS!” By now, the dimensional engine finished its charge and switched on. Davros was surrounded by a flash of light, causing Ssylphiel and the Doctor to shield their eyes. The light died down and the Doctor and Ssylphiel lowered their hands to see that Davros had gone.

“…He’ll be on a planet by himself,” said the Doctor. “I made sure that the planet will have just enough technology for him to survive there.”

“And you’ll meet him again and again and again,” mused Ssylphiel. “…Sounds a lot like my relationship with Anacassandra.”

“…How will her death affect things anyways?” asked the Doctor.

“By removing a Divine Folk’s life, the Daleks have made it so that answering prayers on the Gods’ behalf is a little harder, so many more will have to take her place. …I only pray that those that do will actually fulfill that duty.”

“She forgot it when she was alive, didn’t she?”

“She told me at one point that the Gods should not concern themselves with the wishes of lesser beings. …For one thing, just because they’re not Divine doesn’t mean they’re lesser. For another, they put in the work, so they SHOULD be rewarded before they die. And for one last thing, they’re the reason I have any form of real life at all. If they didn’t exist, I don’t think I’d personally enjoy life. I’d be stagnant and unchanging…a being like Anacassandra. So I try and help the non-Divine Folk where I can. I DO pray to the Gods that I’m successful, though.”

“Given that people genuinely love you,” said the Doctor with a smile, “I think your prayers are answered. I once said that hatred is always foolish and love is always wise. I think you’ve understood that a long time before I was even born in my original universe.” Ssylphiel smiled back.

“…Come along, Doctor,” said Ssylphiel. “Serpentia has just overcome a severe hardship and we NEED to celebrate it!”

Everyone was in the cells again. Tysar looked regretful. “I’m sorry, Doctor,” she said. “I let my people’s hatred of the Daleks cloud my judgement.”

“Don’t be silly, Tysar,” replied the Doctor. “You actually gave me enough time to get the information I needed.”

“Yeah, but now there’s a Dalek that can use magic!” argued Tysar.

“There’s quite a few flaws in the Daleks,” remarked the Doctor. “One of them is their impatience.”

“Doctor?” asked Bea, overhearing the whole thing.

“The Daleks are trying to exterminate all non-Daleks as quickly and as painfully as possible,” explained the Doctor. “Their plans require tight timetables.”

“But magic isn’t something you learn in a day!” argued Calliope. “Any witch worth their salt will tell you that to hasten learning magic leads to disaster!”

“Hence why Bea hasn’t used as much magic as you, Coilzette, Shannon, Nora, or Ssylphiel in their daily lives,” observed the Doctor.

“W-Well, yeah, but-,” stammered Bea, feeling called out.

“The Dalek Sorcerer doesn’t have the experience you do,” continued the Doctor. “And they all forgot rule two of keeping their most dangerous prisoners locked up.” She was looking at the force field emitters. Tysar looked up as well.

“…Wait, are those things expo-?!” Tysar face palmed. “…Don’t expose your force field emitters when one of them is an engineer that knows what they’re doing!” she groaned. “That’s basic!” She got to work rewiring the emitters at her cell door. The Doctor did the same with hers.

“And they thought taking away my sonic screwdriver would hamper me!” she chuckled.

---

In a central chamber, Davros and Anacassandra were meeting. “Davros, so far, we’ve been stuck here,” hissed Anacassandra, “doing nothing! You promised that your Daleks would conquer Serpentia, yet it still stands!”

“You are impatient!” retorted Davros. “My Daleks are dedicated to victory! To that end, we will wait!”

“My sister’s dratted city has stood as a blight against our Divine Right for too long!” insisted Anacassandra. “We must attack now! I’ve had my slaves construct a war machine-!”

“Your slaves didn’t get the chance to build it,” purred the Dalek Sorcerer as it glided into the room.

“…How do you know?” asked Anacassandra.

“They were no longer necessary to Dalek plans,” explained the Dalek Sorcerer.

“…You fool! I still needed a slave force!” snarled Anacassandra.

“They were slow! Weak! You blunted their potential!”

“I TOOK THE STRONGEST OF ALL THE LESSER RACES AND GAVE THEM PURPOSE!”

“You didn’t dispose of them when you were done! Even gardeners cull the weakest of their plants!”

“I presume there’s a reason why you’re telling us this,” grunted Davros, “so get to the point.”

“I would have thought the Chief Scientist of the Kaleds,” taunted the Dalek Sorcerer, “would have enjoyed the chance to puzzle something out. …Oh, very well. It is time to depart.”

“Depart?!” argued Anacassandra. “But-!”

“There’s still loose ends to tidy up!” protested Davros.

“Yes, there are at least two,” agreed the Dalek Sorcerer, “but they can be tidied up at the same time. Tell me, Anacassandra, when was the last time a member of the Divine Races had been killed?”

“We cannot be killed! We are superior in all-!”

“Spare me the propaganda and stick to history, please. Even YOU learned that you Divine folk have a vulnerability, hence why you personally act the way you do.” Anacassandra was taken aback.

“…It’s not supposed to be propaganda!” she hissed. “…But it was during the Ages of Chaos and War. It took an incredible amount of energy to kill one of us.”

“A blade containing the energy of all 54 of your gods…multiplied by 54,” purred the Dalek Sorcerer. “It’s considered a great effort to kill one that is supposed to the gods’ living means of granting prayers. …Not so for us!”

“What?” asked Anacassandra. 53 Daleks then arrived.

“Whenever one of the Divine Folk was killed,” remarked the Dalek Sorcerer, “it sent a bright, destructive light across the area, did it not? It took ages for the resulting pollution of that light to fully fade away. …Daleks blink in that kind of an explosion!” It then created a magic circle and chose runes from its sensor spheres, then the circle and runes were copied until the resulting circles numbered 54. The circles then hovered in front of all the Daleks’ gunsticks! Davros realized what was going on, but it was too late! The doors shut!

“WAIT!” he called. “YOU CANNOT DO THIS! I AM STILL HERE!”

“You survived a nuclear warhead before, Davros,” purred the Dalek Sorcerer. “Perhaps you’ll survive another one! As for you, Anacassandra…EXTERMINATE!” All the Daleks screamed their battle cry and fired on Anacassandra. Anacassandra screamed in absolute agony as she glowed. The light enveloped the room and Davros screamed in agony as well.

---

The Doctor had freed everyone by the time the Daleks’ betrayal unfolded. The instant the Daleks shot Anacassandra, Ssylphiel, Coilzette, and Bea collapsed, clutching their hearts like they were going through a heart attack! It passed quickly, but it woke them up! “…They couldn’t have!” realized Lukas.

“Lukas?” asked Calliope.

“…They did!” gasped Bea.

“Could someone fill their doctor in?” asked the Doctor.

“The Daleks…successfully killed…Anacassandra!” panted Coilzette.

“The only time…the Divine Folk…have a heart attack…” explained Ssylphiel as she leaned against the wall anc caught her breath, “…is when one of us is killed. No one’s been able to kill any Divine Folk since the Ages of War and Chaos.”

“From what I heard,” explained Lukas, “there was always a destructive light and a horrible aura that broke people down physically whenever one of the Divine Folk is killed.”

“A destructive-?” The Doctor’s eyes widened. “Lukas, is there a mushroom shaped cloud that follows that light?!”

“Th-That’s what the legends said!” replied Lukas.

“A nuclear explosion!” breathed Tysar.

“You Divine folk are living atom bombs!” yelped the Doctor. “This place has deadly levels of radiation!” Just then, a communications terminal buzzed and the Dalek Sorcerer’s voice came through.

“Is there a doctor in the house?” it asked. The Doctor accepted the call.

“You used Anacassandra like an atomic bomb, didn’t you?!” she accused.

“Guilty as charged,” replied the Dalek Sorcerer. “Rest assured, my fellow veteran, the radiation has been contained and the room which she was executed in has been fully decontaminated. But you may want to tend to your patient. He’s not looking too well. …At least, not by YOUR standards.”

---

“Evacuation ship now fully occupied!” reported the Dalek Saucer Commander.

“Coordinates for multiversal return established!” called the Dalek Pilot.

“Engage universal egress!” ordered the Dalek Supreme.

“Objection!” called a Drone Dalek. “The Doctor still lives!”

“The Doctor will be delayed by her mission objective!” replied the Dalek Supreme.

“The Doctor will return to our universe in pursuit of us!” argued the Drone Dalek.

“She won’t get that chance,” replied the Dalek Sorcerer as it glided onto the bridge. “She’s too busy with her patient. By the time she searches for us, we’ll be beyond her reach.”

“The Doctor is too devious!” insisted the Drone Dalek. “She must be exterminated immediately!”

“Dalek Sorcerer, destroy this dissenter!!” ordered the Dalek Supreme.

“I obey,” replied the Dalek Sorcerer. One shot was all it took to destroy the Drone Dalek.

“Takeoff within three rels!” reported the Dalek Saucer Commander. “All Daleks at their stations!”

“Engage!” ordered the Dalek Supreme.

---

The Doctor and her friends looked outside to see a Dalek ship lifting off. “…You know, I have to wonder why the saucer shape was deemed the best shape for a Dalek ship,” remarked Tysar.

“…Drat!” groaned the Doctor. “They knew I had a mission to complete! I bet the Sorcerer is laughing up its metaphorical sleeves!”

“Doctor, there’s no way the Daleks are telling the truth about Davros surviving a nuclear explosion,” said Tysar.

“Are these…nuclear explosions really that dangerous?” asked Calliope.

“Do you know about atoms?” asked Tysar.

“The things that make up all forms of matter?” asked Bea. “Yeah, it’s common knowledge here. Magic has to work with them.”

“Has magic ever split an atom before?” asked the Doctor.

“…No one’s ever attempted it,” replied Calliope.

“Good, because radiation sickness is nothing to joke about. I contracted it on my first visit to the Dalek homeworld of Skaro.” They arrived at the room and saw nothing but a naga’s skeleton…and a ruined man. His skin was horribly burned, he had no legs, his eyes looked like blackened pits, he had no hair, his left arm ended in a stump, and his right hand was as burned as his body. All the Doctor needed to visualize was a blue camera in his forehead, a throat microphone implant, a metal brace over his skull, wires in his skull to operate the equipment, and a black Dalek skirt with silver sensor spheres with a back support and controls for the man to operate. “…Davros!” she shuddered.

“Doctor, there’s no way anyone can survive that kind of explosion!” said Shannon.

“Davros did,” replied the Doctor. “And Daleks just blink at ground zero of a nuclear explosion.” She checked the readings of the room. “…It’s decontaminated. Come on!” She opened the door with the sonic screwdriver she retrieved. Everyone entered the room and examined the carnage. Ssylphiel picked up the naga’s skull.

“…She could have been so much better,” she sighed.

“…Sh…Shan…” came a voice.

“Did you say something, Doctor?” asked Tysar.

“That was a man’s voice,” replied the Doctor. “And I’m not a man right now and that was too wounded to be Lukas.

“Sh…Shan!” came the voice again. Everyone looked to the source of the voice…and saw Davros reaching out!

“That’s not possible! He was at ground zero!” protested Tysar. The Doctor looked up to see the abandoned Bronze Dalek casing.

“…Help me wire him up!” directed the Doctor.

“Where is Shan?!” strained Davros.

“…Shan?” asked the Doctor. “Is that a Kaled woman’s name? Davros, you’re the only Kaled here!” Davros was trying to say something else, but no words could be coherently formed.

The Doctor and her group were led to the lab. “Welcome, Doctor!” greeted Davros.

“What are you plotting in the long run, Davros?” hissed the Doctor.

“Plotting?” chuckled Davros. “That’s a bit much, even for you. I’m simply introducing something new into my creations.”

“You want to create an unstoppable army of magic-wielding Daleks!” accused Ssylphiel.

“The Doctor’s question concerned the long run, not the short term,” dismissed Davros. “Doctor, you really should choose your friends a little more carefully. Perhaps use Sarah Jane Smith as the benchmark?”

“Keep her name out of your mouth, Davros!” snarled the Doctor. “Anacassandra, why are you helping that lunatic?!”

“That’s where the money is, Doctor,” replied Anacassandra. “What matters to me is that the Great Chain of Being that everyone foolishly resists will be proven true once we accomplish our goals. I’m a pacifist at heart.”

“You and Davros are everything wrong with that Chain of Being nonsense made flesh!” accused Coilzette.

“No, Coilzette!” snarled Davros. “There’s someone worse, and that someone is content to let the universe fall to chaos and destruction!”

“That’s still you, Davros!” insisted the Doctor. “Do you really think that everything will be hunky-dory if the Daleks learn magic?! If those things can summon a fireball with a mere chant, who knows what kind of havoc they’ll unleash!”

“Rejoice, Doctor,” replied Davros. “Your questions will soon be answered.” He turned to the Daleks. “Bring forth the casing!”

---

Nora finally finished her work. “There, that’s the last,” she said as she handed the modified Dalek gunsticks to Shannon, Lukas, and Bea. “But I really must stress that I’m not a Ryuginese weapons-smith. Guns are outside my field of expertise and these things-!”

“Will be destroyed when this affair is over,” promised Bea. “I won’t let them exist a second longer.”

“Rest assured,” called Tysar when she entered the room, “all traces of Dalek influence will be destroyed.”

“Tysar, what were you doing?” asked Lukas.

“I picked over what remained of the Daleks’ computers,” replied Tysar. “I managed to locate where they took our friends.” She pulled out a map and pointed to a jungle area between Serpentia and a beach acting as a land border to the Aquarinix Empire. “Right there,” she said.

“That’s where we found Egg!” gasped Shannon.

“Davros and Anacassandra must have set up shop there to properly track the Dalek’s movements between Serpentia and Aquarinix,” guessed Tysar.

“Then we can conduct a raid?” asked Nora.

“I was thinking about a combined sabotage and rescue operation,” said Tysar. “But we need to be quick. We find our friends, help the Doctor in sabotaging the Daleks’ plans, destroy anything Dalek-related (including these guns), and send Davros back to my native universe. All right?”

“…I’m in,” said Shannon.

“Let’s do this,” agreed Bea.

“Ready and waiting,” said Lukas.

“Let’s tear the tin cans apart,” decided Nora.

“…Thank you. All of you,” said Tysar proudly.

---

The Doctor and her friends were restrained to a wall as a new Dalek casing in bluish gray was brought into the room. This one had a cowl over the whole dome, even shielding the speech illuminators. It was armed with a multi-dexterous claw instead of a plunger. Each sensor sphere on the travel skirt had a rune on it. The gunstick was also more elaborate, looking less like a whisk and more like a bejeweled wand. “Davros, you can’t do this!” pleaded the Doctor.

“I’ve come too far now!” replied Davros. “I will see it through!”

“That is to be my new casing?” asked the Bronze Dalek.

“That is correct,” confirmed Davros. “Unseal your casing!”

“I…obey!” The Bronze Dalek opened its casing. A Dalek arrived. It was built with a scoop attachment on its manipulator arm and a tank with a liquid attached to its back with a hose running from the tank to the scoop. The new casing then opened up as everyone got a good look at the Dalek creature piloting the Bronze casing. It was a greenish brown cephalopod with an exposed brain and a single eye.

“Ugh! That’s what a Dalek really looks like?!” gagged Coilzette.

“Pure evil made malignant flesh!” hissed the Doctor.

“The superior life form!” argued the Dalek Supreme. It swiveled its eyestalk to the Dalek with the scoop attachment. “Remove the Veteran from its old casing!”

“I obey!” The Dalek moved its scoop attachment to the Bronze Dalek creature. The creature slithered into the scoop. “Veteran organism connected to temporary nutrient feed! Life signs stable for now! Placing organism into new casing!” The Dalek moved the Bronze Dalek creature towards the new casing. The Bronze Dalek creature slithered into the new casing and settled in. “Veteran organism now connected to new casing!”

“Seal your new casing!” Davros ordered the former Bronze Dalek.

“…I…obey.” As it spoke, its hidden dome lamps flashed bright violet. The former Bronze Dalek sealed its new casing. Upon the final latch on the casing being sealed, the camera eye flashed bright violet and its limbs and eyestalk raised upwards.

“Report on operational status!” ordered the Dalek Supreme. The former Bronze Dalek looked around and tested its limbs.

“…Internal assessments,” it reported, “indicate 91% efficiency. Beginning simple magic usage test.” The former Bronze Dalek opened its new claw…and summoned a fireball. It then closed the claw, extinguishing the fireball! “…The positronic brain network wired into the new casing DOES facilitate proper magic usage!” it reported. “I’m no longer just the Veteran! I…am the DALEK SORCERER!” Lightning flashed behind it, spooking other Daleks.

“…Bit ostentatious!” called the Doctor.

“The Doctor and her friends are no longer required!” barked the Dalek Supreme. “EXTERMINATE!”

“NO!” called the newly rechristened Dalek Sorcerer.

“…No?” asked Davros. “She was only needed to witness your rise! She’s served her purpose!”

“It hasn’t fully sunken in for her how badly she failed,” replied the Dalek Sorcerer, now sounding more…human-like, for lack of a better word. “I want her alive so she can finally see how much we have risen.”

“But the Doctor-!” argued the Dalek Supreme.

“Rest assured, she will be properly restrained,” soothed the Dalek Sorcerer. Davros opened his mouth to argue, then the alarms sounded. “What is that?!” demanded the Dalek Sorcerer.

“Unauthorized Transmat in progress! Alert! Alert!” reported a Dalek.

“Locate source of the transmission! Locate! LOCATE!” ordered the Dalek Supreme.

“Triangulating!” replied the Dalek. “…Source located! The Serpentian Capital Citadel! The end point is within the stronghold’s command center!”

“Previous communications,” warned another Dalek, “indicate that the Dalek Task Force there was utterly destroyed by a Thal and her friends!”

“Tysar!” whispered the Doctor.

“The Doctor’s companions are attempting a rescue!” realized the Dalek Supreme. “Alert Daleks in the command center! They must not reach the Doctor!”

---

Tysar and her friends shimmered into view. Shannon was the only one not carrying a gun as her magic laid more in the medical field. Everyone looked up when they heard the alarms. “They know we’re here!” warned Tysar. “Move!” The group approached a door…just in time to run into Daleks!

“HALT! HALT!” ordered a Dalek. “EXTERMINATE!”

“YOU BUGGERS FIRST!” called Nora. She pulled out her forge hammer, swung it to the floor, and used her Dwarven magic to create cover for her and her friends. Those with the modified Dalek guns opened fire, tearing through Daleks that attempted to exterminate them.

“ALERT! ALERT! DALEK FIREPOWER BEING TURNED AGAINST US!” warned the de facto Battle Commander. “WITHDRAW! REGROUP!”

“Move aside!” called a new Dalek’s voice. The Dalek Sorcerer then arrived. “Let me see what we’re dealing with.”

“…That’s new,” remarked Tysar.

“Oh, we’ve met before,” replied the Dalek Sorcerer. “If they weren’t occupied, the Doctor and her companions would confirm that I’m the Dalek you’ve called Egg.”

“…Why the new casing?” asked Tysar.

“The better to channel my new abilities, my dear…Tysar, was it?”

“Tysar, if that’s Egg, why isn’t he talking like a Dalek?” asked Lukas.

“Must be a privilege that comes with the casing,” remarked Tysar.

“Privilege, necessary curse, take your pick, my dear,” remarked the Dalek Sorcerer. As they spoke, the Dalek Sorcerer used its claw to create a circle of red light! Bea and her friends backed up.

“That’s a magic circle!” she explained. “That thing is using magic! Egg DOES have a soul!”

“That’s impossible!” protested Tysar. “Daleks are soulless monsters!”

“Evidently, we’re not,” purred the Dalek Sorcerer as several runes on its sensor spheres flashed and surrounded the magic circle. The Dalek Sorcerer then rapidly extended its claw through the circle, multiplying it and the surrounding runes by four and making all four copies sail towards the modified Dalek guns. …All of a sudden, the modified Dalek guns burned their hands, making the group drop them! The Dalek Sorcerer then fired its gunstick on all four weapons, destroying them. “Very clever, using our firepower against us,” purred the Dalek Sorcerer. “But we Daleks are nothing if not adaptable.”

“That’s a laugh!” scoffed Tysar. “You lot hate change! …Come to think of it, you hate everything and everyone.”

“Perhaps by your antiquated definitions, we do.” The Dalek Sorcerer looked at a Drone Dalek. “Bring them into the cells. I want them to see how badly the Doctor failed.”

“The Dalek Supreme’s orders were for their immediate extermination!” argued the Drone Dalek. The Dalek Sorcerer slowly turned its eyestalk to the dissenter.

“The Doctor’s weakness is seeing her companions in danger at the moment of her failure,” it said softly, the tone making the Drone Dalek back up. “Only when they’re all in the same position as her will the Doctor’s hope truly dies. Only then will the Doctor die. Bring the prisoners to the cells. That…is an order!”

“…We…obey!”

“…I’m going to ask that question again,” said the Doctor, “and-.”

“My response will be the same!” replied the Bronze Dalek. “I require information from you and Davros!”

“You’re reconnected to Pathweb, yes?” asked Davros. “You can look everything up now.”

“I require outside information! Information that has not been uploaded to Pathweb!”

“And even though he’s your creator,” remarked the Doctor, “Davros is just as much an outsider to you as I am and an outsider’s views would give you ideas on how the rest of the universe sees the Time War.”

“Correct!” Davros bristled at the Bronze Dalek’s confirmation of the Doctor’s theory. “Now…tell me of the mutual defeat of the Daleks and the Time Lords! Tell me about the end of the Last Great Time War!”

“You already know most of it, but my friends don’t, so I’ll indulge,” said the Doctor. “The Daleks and my people, the Time Lords of Gallifrey, were at war with each other for the sake of time and space. In strictly linear terms, the war lasted for 400 years, but as the war involved time travel, it truly lasted through out eternity. Each side used time travel to try and undo the enemy’s victories.”

“That created splinter timelines and parallel universes and temporal paradoxes throughout the conflict,” continued Davros. “…But then, after my command ship flew into the jaws of the Nightmare Child, the Daleks destroyed the Time Lord city of Arcadia. That was when the entirety of the Dalek race summoned a mighty battlefleet to bombard Gallifrey and destroy it utterly! The Doctor, in her war incarnation, then tried to use a sentient superweapon that would destroy Gallifrey and the Dalek fleet alike!”

“But my previous and future incarnations at the time found a better alternative,” continued the Doctor. “We used our respective TARDIS’s to send Gallifrey into a pocket universe as the Dalek fleet bombarded the planet. It vanished to somewhere safer and the fleet destroyed itself in its own crossfire. Now, both Time Lords and Daleks alike are trying to rebuild, but with crises popping up and internal politics hampering the efforts…”

“…Neither side is at a stage to continue the war!” finished the Bronze Dalek. “Or to even conduct a new war on that scale!”

“No, thank goodness.”

“…That is all the information I require!” The Bronze Dalek then moved off.

“…I’ll be seeing you later,” said Davros as he left the cell block.

“…Well, that’s that,” said the Doctor.

“So, now that we have the information you needed,” remarked Coilzette, “what now, Doctor?”

“We need to get to their main command center, start tampering a little,” replied the Doctor.

“…Erm, Doctor,” said Calliope, “I don’t know how it’s escaped your notice, but the cells have the technological equivalent of an impenetrable force field.”

“Easy fix. Davros forgot rule one, something his original Kaled underlings had engrained in their training, even though they didn’t realize it.”

“What’s that?” asked Ssylphiel. The Doctor then pulled out her sonic screwdriver.

“Always empty the Doctor’s pockets when you take her prisoner!” declared the Doctor. She held the screwdriver near the force field emitter and switched it on. The screwdriver buzzed and the emitter sparked after a few seconds. The force field then shut down and the Doctor stepped out of her cell. “Jailbreak, anyone?”

“You have a technological version of a magic wand?” asked Ssylphiel in amazement. The Doctor bridled at this.

“That’s sonic screwdriver to you!” she snapped as she aimed the screwdriver at the force field emitter.

---

The few Daleks that stayed behind in the citadel were still patrolling the courtyard. “No life forms detected!” a Dalek said to its de facto Section Leader.

“Maintain vigilance!” ordered the Section Leader.

“Excuse me!” called a woman’s voice. All the Daleks turned their eyestalks in the general direction of the voice. It came from a rather dark corner of the courtyard. The Section Leader swiveled its dome to look directly at one of its subordinates.

“Investigate!” it ordered.

“I obey!” replied the Dalek. It trundled towards the dark corner and into the corridor surrounding the courtyard.

“Hi!” called Tysar, attracting the Dalek’s attention. “I think you want to exterminate me?”

“ALERT! ALERT! THAL PRESENCE DETECTED! EXTERMIN-!” The Dalek didn’t get very far in its warning as its eyestalk was whacked off by Bea’s tail! “MY VISION IS IMPARED! I CANNOT SEE! MY VISION IS IMPARED! ALERT! ALERT!” It fired wildly as a blinded Dalek usually does.

“NOW!” called Tysar as she, Shannon, Bea, and Lukas grabbed it. Tysar managed to get the gunstick out of the gun box and pointed it at the Dalek. “BACK AWAY!” Tysar warned her friends. They dove out of the way and Tysar fired at the Dalek’s midsection, causing it to explode.

“DALEK UNIT DISABLED!” called the Section Leader, having heard the noise. “CRUSH ALL RESISTANCE! EXTERMINATE!”

“With pleasure!” replied Tysar as she fired on the Daleks, causing them to blow up. After the noise of the explosions died down, she and her friends entered the courtyard.

“…Are they really-?” asked Lukas.

“Dead, yes,” sighed Tysar. “…Come on, let’s get three more gunsticks.”

“Hold on, you want to arm us with weapons of mass-?!” protested Bea.

“Nora can create ways for you to safely use them,” replied Tysar.

“How do you know?” asked Shannon.

“I don’t. I’m hoping.”

“Tysar, guns are forbidden here,” explained Lukas. “And in my home of the Aquarinix Empire. They’re too dangerous!”

“It’s true. Not even our soldiers use them,” confirmed Shannon.

“…My people hate guns as much as you,” sighed Tysar, “but against soulless creatures like the Daleks, we have no choice. It’s a matter of survival. …Look, we’ll destroy these things when this is all done. I promise.”

---

The Doctor and her group were at the command center of the stronghold. The Doctor was busy typing things out on the computer. “Lab, lab, lab, Davros must have a lab somewhere to put Egg’s research to good use,” she muttered.

“Doctor, can’t we just blow up the stronghold?” asked Ssylphiel.

“The Toymaker wants Davros sent back to our native universe,” replied the Doctor. “That implies, at least to me, that he needs to be kept alive. Besides, I need to know what he’s up to so I can properly tamper…aha! That’s it!”

“Doctor?” asked Calliope.

“Security feed of the lab Davros is using,” explained the Doctor. “Now we can learn what he’s using Egg’s research for.” On the screen, Anacassandra and Davros were talking.

“You’re certain this will work?” asked Anacassandra.

“All the research the Veteran conducted,” replied Davros, “indicates that it WILL work!”

“…Very well, but I still say it’s ludicrous.” By then, the Bronze Dalek entered the room.

“Why was I summoned?” it barked.

“You, my child, are needed for a great experiment!” replied Davros. “To properly utilize the full power of a Dalek’s soul!”

“You removed them, Davros. Remember?” scoffed the Doctor as everyone watched.

“Explain!” directed the Bronze Dalek.

“As your research indicated,” said Davros, “the force known as magic is powered by the very soul of a magic user.”

“Correct!” confirmed the Bronze Dalek.

“But we have used technology for so long that we do not tap into our soul,” continued Davros.

“Daleks have no souls!” barked the Bronze Dalek.

“That is incorrect, my child,” chuckled Davros. The Bronze Dalek twitched.

“Come on, there’s no way a Dalek has a soul,” scoffed the Doctor.

“You have proof that Daleks have souls?” asked the Bronze Dalek.

“That’s where I come in,” replied Anacassandra. “I have read deep into the hearts of every Dalek that I’ve come across…and you DO have souls.”

“What?!” protested the Doctor.

“She’s right,” said Calliope. “What she’s carefully avoiding saying, however, is that a Dalek’s soul is so twisted by hatred, much like her own soul and Davros’.”

“…But if magic is powered by the soul-!” gasped the Doctor.

“And magic used by a hate-filled soul is catastrophic enough,” said Ssylphiel.

“The casing is prepared!” called a Dalek Scientist.

“Excellent!” praised Davros. “Veteran, as you have the most intimate knowledge of how magic works, YOU shall inhabit the new casing!”

“…You are creating a Dalek Mage!” realized the Bronze Dalek.

“No!” protested the Doctor. “If the Daleks do that, they might just conquer all realities! We have to sabotage that casing!”

“Where’s the lab?!” asked Coilzette.

“STAY WHERE YOU ARE!” shrieked a Dalek as three of them entered the room.

“All right! All right!” yelped the Doctor as she raised her hands. “We surrender!”

“Prisoners will come with us!” ordered the lead Dalek.

“Where?” asked Ssylphiel.

“Do not question!” barked the lead Dalek. “Move! MOVE!”

“We obey!” replied the Doctor. “Come along, you three. We don’t exactly have much in the way of choice.” Her friends grumbled as they raised their hands.

“We’d better be going to the lab,” grunted Calliope.

“…You…called Davros…our savior?” asked the Bronze Dalek. “…His lunacy threatened Dalek supremacy! His command ship flew into the jaws of the Nightmare Child!”

“It took a Dalek to rescue me from that fate,” replied Davros. “Dalek Caan of the Cult of Skaro.”

“The Cult of Skaro exists?!”

“No longer!” replied the Dalek Supreme. “Caan betrayed the Daleks after the Time War!”

“…The war with the Time Lords is over?”

“Yes,” confirmed the Dalek Supreme. “Casualties have been heavy!”

“That is to be expected in war!” replied the Bronze Dalek.

“I refer to Dalek casualties!” corrected the Dalek Supreme.

“…Dalek casualties?”

“We lost!” replied Davros. “Both Time Lords and Daleks fought until our empires crumbled!”

“YOU LIE!”

“He speaks the truth!” replied the Dalek Supreme. “All will be revealed when we return to the stronghold! For now, Veteran, prepare for transmat!”

“…I obey!”

---

“Transmat?” whispered Ssylphiel as she, Coilzette, Calliope, and the Doctor saw the scene unfold. “What does that mean?”

“Teleportation, but via mechanical means instead of magical ones,” replied the Doctor. “…That’s where we need to be. Follow my lead.” She led the group to the Daleks. “Excuse me! Any room for more on your transmat?”

“DOCTOR!” shouted Davros.

“I know I’ve changed since Project Necromancer,” remarked the Doctor, “so I really have to congratulate you on getting it right.”

“Shoot her! SHOOT HER NOW!”

“NO!” called the Bronze Dalek.

“…No?” asked Davros. “That is our greatest enemy! She must die or this whole operation will-!”

“The Doctor is sentimental and emotional!” replied the Bronze Dalek. “The two nagas are Divine Nagas, immune to all forms of death! The Cecaelia is only immortal where age is concerned!”

“Excuse me!” protested Calliope.

“You harm one sucker on her legs-!” warned the Doctor.

“Cooperate and your Cecaelia friend will be unharmed!” answered the Bronze Dalek.

“That won’t deter her for long!” insisted Davros.

“Agreed!” said the Dalek Supreme. “The Doctor will interfere with our plans! She must be ex-!”

“The Doctor and her companions come with us!” insisted the Bronze Dalek. “Or you do not receive the data I have collected!” The nearby Daleks twitched as they awaited their superiors’ orders.

“…Very well,” growled Davros. “Doctor, you and your friends are coming with us.”

“Delighted,” replied the Doctor. “Come along, you three!”

---

In the main keep, Tysar and her group looked out a window as the Daleks vanished with their rescued companion and their prisoners. “…How is that possible?” asked Bea. “I didn’t see any transportation runes.”

“Transmat, most likely,” replied Tysar. “Matter transmission.”

“You mean their bodies were transmitted like that cute little radio thing does with radio waves?” asked Lukas.

“…A crude, but accurate analogy,” confirmed Tysar.

“Now what?” asked Shannon.

“We have to defend this citadel and its people,” replied Tysar. “Can I see a map?”

“Right here,” replied Bea as she pulled out a map of the citadel. “The Daleks knew where to place the explosives since the wall they took down was our biggest blind spot. They made it to the eastern courtyard while Egg’s cell was just to their north.”

“We’ve locked all the doors,” said Shannon, “but the Daleks must have the same abilities as Egg did where it came to combination calculations.”

“It looks like a few Daleks are staying behind,” observed Lukas. “Probably to prevent us from going after our families.”

“The Daleks prefer to box people in as they advance in lines,” said Tysar. “The inherent claustrophobia that tactic brings about makes their targets just marginally more clumsy and prone to making mistakes. But there IS a weakness.”

“Yes, you mentioned something about the eyestalk?” asked Shannon.

“The Doctor said the same thing,” replied Bea.

“We Thals have a saying,” explained Tysar. “When in doubt, blind a Dalek. Granted, a blinded Dalek freaks out and fires wildly, but that gives a person enough time to tear off their gunstick and use it against other Daleks, then that person’s allies can conduct scavenging operations-.”

“And turn Dalek fire ON the Daleks!” realized Lukas.

“Exactly!”

“But what about their shields?” asked Bea. “Our magic blasts and other weapons were absorbed or dissolved.”

“Therein lies another weakness,” explained Tysar. “Dalek shields have to be porous enough to let their weapons fire pass through, but it’s two-way.”

“Then we have to get this right,” said Shannon.

“…Wait a minute, where’s Nora?” asked Bea.

“In the armory,” replied Shannon. “She’ll be at her forge designing weapons. …And I need to tend to the wounded.”

“Leave the combat to me,” said Bea. “Tysar, I hate to ask, but we need to lure one of the Daleks away from their group and-.”

“And we need bait,” finished Tysar. “…Well, a Thal is an irresistible target to a Dalek.”

“Bea, you can’t be serious!” protested Lukas. “Tysar’s a guest and-!”

“A guest that knows a thing or two about Daleks,” interrupted Tysar. “Trust me, I know what I’m doing. Bea, be ready.”

---

At the stronghold, everyone arrived. Anacassandra goggled. “You brought Ssylphiel and Calliope here?!” she snapped at Davros.

“It was the Veteran’s insistence!” hissed Davros as he pointed at the Bronze Dalek.

“You must be Anacassandra,” greeted the Doctor. “You seem to be well acquainted with Ssylphiel and Calliope here, this is-!”

“She’s my aunt, Doctor,” interrupted Coilzette. “We’re well-acquainted.”

“Ah, good!” declared the Doctor. “Let me just say, I’m terribly grateful Egg here persuaded Davros and his fellow Daleks to bring us here. Perhaps we can negotiate over tea and-?”

“I won’t negotiate!” hissed Anacassandra. “And who needs tea anyways?!”

“…Well, that’s a first. No one’s every verbally poo-poo’d tea when I’m in earshot.”

“Take them to the cells!” ordered Anacassandra.

“…Do as she says,” directed Davros.

“…I obey!” replied a Dalek. It then turned to the Doctor and her friends. “You will move ahead of me and follow my directions! Move! MOVE!”

“Calm down, calm down, we won’t hurt you,” replied the Doctor as she and her group went through a door with the Dalek trundling after them.

“What do you intend to do with them?” Anacassandra asked Davros.

“Have the Doctor executed, for a start,” replied Davros. “She’s too dangerous for our plans. …How did she even get to this universe in the first place?”

“Perhaps find out from her before her death,” suggested Anacassandra.

“…Pray, excuse me,” said Davros as he went in the direction the prisoners were told to go.

“I will join him later!” barked the Bronze Dalek. “For now, I have data that the Scientific Division needs from me!”

“And our agreement? Were you filled in?” asked Anacassandra.

“…Your agreement with the Daleks is included in Pathweb!” replied the Bronze Dalek. “All data indicates that the agreement stands!”

“Good. Excellent. We’ll meet later, then?”

“Agreed!” The Bronze Dalek trundled off in a different direction.

---

“Doctor, this is lunacy!” hissed Ssylphiel as she and the group sat in their cells. “Why would you go here when it’s crawling with people who want to kill us?! You in particular!”

“Because Davros is enacting something that has the gods I’ve met worried,” replied the Doctor. “I need information and to send him back.”

“So it was someone else that sent you here,” said Davros as he entered the cell block. “Guard, leave. I will speak to the prisoners alone.”

“All prisoners must-!” argued the Dalek.

“That’s an order!” hissed Davros.

“…I…obey!” The Guard Dalek left the cell block.

“You know, the Daleks consider me their worst enemy for a reason, Davros,” remarked the Doctor.

“But you needed help to figure out my plan,” remarked Davros. “Who was it? One of the Guardians? The Toymaker?”

“…That last one, but on the orders of Grand Zeno,” replied the Doctor.

“Ah! So I have HIM concerned, then!”

“…That’s…not something to brag about! Even the Master wouldn’t do that! How did you even-?!”

“Doctor, come now, you recall the Skaro Degradations. Alternate Daleks drafted into the Time War.”

“…So it was easy for the Daleks to go into alternate realities as well as bring remnants of other realities to our own. …That’s where our veteran Dalek comes in, hm? It was one of the experiments that succeeded in multiversal travel.”

“Not only that, but to research something that both Daleks and Time Lords cannot understand or combat against…magic!” The Doctor held back a laugh. “What’s so funny, Doctor?!”

“Sorry, I just thought of a Dalek dressed like Gandalf!” chuckled the Doctor. “Can you imagine that?” She then mimicked a Dalek as she quoted Gandalf! “YOU! SHALL NOT! PASS!”

“Your ridicule will not save you, Doctor!” snarled Davros. “With that research, I shall make the Daleks stronger! They will be even more deadly! AND I, DAVROS, SHALL TAKE MY RIGHTFUL PLACE AS THEIR EMPEROR! THE DALEKS WILL SWEEP AWAY ALL MANNER OF RESISTANCE AGAINST US! WE SHALL BECOME ALL-!”

“All powerful!” scoffed the Doctor, recalling that exact phrase from Davros and what her response was. “Crush the lesser races! Conquer the galaxy! Unimaginable power! Unlimited rice pudding! Et cetera, et cetera! Davros, we’ve done this song and dance before!”

“You would be wise not to anger me, Doctor!” warned Davros.

“Enough!” barked a Dalek’s voice. The Bronze Dalek then glided into the cell block.

“…What are you doing here?” asked the Doctor. “Come to speak with fellow veterans?”

“Correct!” barked the Bronze Dalek. The Doctor blinked in surprise as she was being facetious.

As Tysar and her group ran through the corridors, Shannon put out an alert that Egg was conscious and had designs on killing Tysar. Guards lined the corridors as the group ran past. Tysar stopped a guard. “Aim for the eyestalk!” she directed. “Pass it on!” The guard nodded and passed the message as Tysar continued running, praying that the Dalek would get bored of killing before all the guards were slaughtered.

---

Back on the wall, the Doctor and her group discussed the situation. “Do you think Davros would side with Anacassandra?” asked Coilzette.

“Maybe,” remarked the Doctor. “I mean, it seems Anacassandra would be…” She trailed off when she looked over the wall. “…Somebody’s setting something onto the wall’s outside,” she said. Everyone looked down.

“…HEY DOWN THERE!” called Bea. “WHAT ARE PUTTING ON THERE?” The person took off…and the device flashed. The Doctor’s eyes widened.

“GET OFF THE WALL! THAT’S A BOMB!” she warned. The wall was quickly evacuated just in time! The bomb exploded, destroying the wall! Ssylphiel, Bea, and Coilzette used their magic to create a shield to protect everyone from flying debris. Once they determined that all the debris was contained, they lowered the shield.

“Who would dare?!” demanded Ssylphiel. Then…something rose from the sand outside! The Doctor goggled in horror as modern-day Daleks came up.

“…He’s allied with them!” she whispered.

“Those robots look similar to Egg,” remarked Bea.

“…Are you telling me your Egg looks like them?!” demanded the Doctor.

“Well, yes, but more bronze and-.”

“A Time War Dalek!” shuddered the Doctor. “EVERYONE, GET AWAY FROM THEM!”

“Entrance into citadel granted!” barked the Red and Gold Dalek Supreme leading the way. “Proceed! Retrieve the Veteran! Crush all resistance!”

“Wait!” called Ssylphiel. “If it’s your friend that you want, we can-.”

“Daleks do not negotiate with their inferiors!” barked a Drone Dalek as it fired on Ssylphiel. A soldier then intercepted the shot…and was promptly exterminated.

“Proceed! Exterminate all in your way! EXTERMINATE!” ordered the Dalek Supreme. The battle cry of “Exterminate!” was taken up as the Daleks opened fire!

“AIM FOR THE EYEPIECE!” called the Doctor.

“Commander!” Ssylphiel ordered. “Get the civilians to the shelters!”

“At once!” replied the Guard Commander. He began rallying soldiers to him and began evacuations.

“We need to get somewhere more fortified than this!” urged the Doctor.

“FALL BACK!” Ssylphiel called. “GET TO THE MAIN PALACE KEEP!” The soldiers obeyed with several dying by Dalek firepower as they covered the retreat. Ssylphiel was then hit. She felt the pain of her insides being scrambled and promptly unscrambled as her organs restored themselves.

“Maximum extermination!” ordered the Dalek Supreme as it and its followers fired on Ssylphiel. She was shot again but still didn’t fall.

“Ssylphiel, come on!” urged Coilzette. One of the Daleks then took a bio-scan as everyone retreated.

“Genetics indicate total immortality!” it reported to the Dalek Supreme. “She and others like her cannot be exterminated by conventional means!”

“Anacassandra was not speaking in hyperbole when she said she was a living goddess!” recalled another Drone Dalek.

“That does not matter!” barked the Dalek Supreme. “Ssylphiel has proven to have the same weakness of compassion to others just like the Predator!”

“Alert! Alert! Time Lord physiology detected!” warned another Dalek.

“It is the Doctor!” guessed the Dalek Supreme. “Alert the Creator! The Doctor is here! She must not interfere in our plans!”

---

Back with the Doctor, her group intercepted Tysar’s. “Tysar!” she breathed in relief. “Thank goodness! We have to get into the palace keep!”

“That won’t do any good!” replied Tysar. “Egg is-!”

“A Time War Era Dalek, I know,” replied the Doctor. “We have modern Daleks pouring into the citadel! They’ve called it the Veteran and are looking for it!”

“I thought you two said the Daleks were mutated creatures!” hissed Coilzette.

“They are,” replied Tysar. “The metal stuff is just their travel machine.”

“Are they always so ruthless?” asked Ssylphiel.

“Unerringly,” replied the Doctor. “Tysar, where’s Egg?”

“Currently engaged with the soldiers here,” answered Tysar.

“They’ll be slaughtered!” protested Ssylphiel.

“They have to pull back!” urged the Doctor. Ssylphiel pulled out a communicator.

“Guards, all guards, do not engage with Egg! That thing will slaughter you before you get the chance to fire your wands! Fall back to the keep! I repeat, fall back to the keep!”

“Doctor, you said there were more of them on the way here!” protested Calliope. “What happens when they meet Egg?!”

“…I have a few nasty theories, but by then,” replied the Doctor, “their attention will be focused on me. I’m sure I saw a Dalek take a bio-scan of all of us.”

“…Doctor, you’re not planning to be the sacrificial lamb, are you?” asked Lukas.

“I need to take care of this alone,” replied the Doctor.

“Oh no, you don’t!” replied Tysar. “You’ll make a beastly mess if you do it alone and you need my help in tidying that mess up!”

“And those are MY people the Daleks are threatening,” said Ssylphiel. “I’m going with you.”

“As am I,” declared Coilzette.

“And me!” agreed Bea.

“I’m going too!” said Calliope.

“Where Mistress Calliope goes, I go!” declared Lukas. Calliope winced.

“…I’d…rather you went to the shelters where it’s-.”

“Where it’s safe?!” protested Lukas. “Calliope, you granted my wish of gaining the courage of becoming who I am today! I can’t just-!”

“Compromise,” interjected the Doctor. “Tysar, Lukas, Bea, Shannon, you lot go to the main keep. Follow Tysar’s advice, her people are as knowledgeable about the Daleks as I am. The rest of us will meet with the Daleks to buy as much time as possible before…before the end.”

“You intend to use the Daleks to get to Davros,” realized Tysar.

“That’s correct. …Perhaps this might give Ssylphiel the chance to end this conflict with Anacassandra.”

“…She’s right,” agreed Coilzette. “This ‘little conflict’ with her has become a war and we need to end it quickly.”

“…Bea, if I’m somehow killed…” said Ssylphiel, “…Serpentia is yours. Rule it well.”

“…Yes, Mama Ssylphiel,” replied Bea. “But…please come back. I can’t-.”

“I’ll do everything in my power, my precious girl.” Ssylphiel and Bea hugged each other, then Shannon hugged her Queen and Princess, then Coilzette hugged the three of them. Calliope then pulled Lukas into a hug.

“…Be safe, Lovely Lukas,” bid Calliope.

“You too, Mistress.”

“Shannon,” directed Ssylphiel, “guard Tysar, Bea, and Lukas.”

“With my life, Mistress,” promised Shannon.

---

Back in the temporary stronghold, Anacassandra was gobsmacked as she saw the progress through her crystal ball. “…B-But…that’s an obvious plan!” she protested. “Blowing up the wall is something Ssylphiel should have anticipated!”

“Like I said, my Daleks never overlook the importance of simplicity,” replied Davros. “We have our entrance and-.” A call then came through his comms. He accepted the call. “Report,” he ordered.

“Bio-scans have detected a Time Lord in the citadel!” replied the Dalek on the other end.

“The Doctor?!”

“That is the only logical conclusion!”

“I’ll be there straightaway!” decided Davros. “We MUST get the Veteran here!”

“I obey!” The call ended and Davros turned to a Dalek operator.

“Transmat me to the battlefield!” he ordered.

“I obey!” replied the operator.

“Your place isn’t among the rabble we sent out!” protested Anacassandra.

“…I would advise you not to call my Daleks the rabble,” warned Davros. “From what I’ve researched, even members of the Divine Races have been killed before.”

“Transmat operational!” reported the Dalek Operator. Davros stepped onto the transmat’s dais.

“Transport!” he ordered. The Operator obeyed and Davros vanished.

---

The Bronze Dalek continued to glide through the corridors of the palace with a Dalek’s usual ugly grace. The soldiers had ceased fighting it and retreated, locking all the doors behind them. A hinderance, but one that can be overcome. Each keypad it saw, the Bronze Dalek placed its manipulator arm onto it and used carefully controlled pressure to press the buttons at rapid speed. It obtained the correct combinations in less than a rel. It surmised that the soldiers realized the superior defenses and weapons they were fighting against and so retreated. They still left tracks that its camera eye could pick up. It approached a door leading to a courtyard. The Bronze Dalek opened it…and was greeted not with soldiers, but with what looked like Daleks with different casings! It took a bio-scan…and the strange Daleks also scanned it for genetic purity. The readings the Bronze Dalek took indicated that their genetics WERE pure, they just had different casings. “Genetic purity confirmed! You are Daleks!” it declared.

“Your genetic purity is also confirmed!” replied the Dalek that registered as the Supreme to the Bronze Dalek. “Your research into universes dominated by the force known as magic is required to accelerate Dalek plans!”

“I have transferred all research onto shielded positronic brains!” replied the Bronze Dalek. “That data will be transferred to Pathweb for Dalek Scientists to utilize!” Just then, Davros shimmered into view. The Dalek Supreme swiveled its eyestalk to him.

“You must return to the stronghold!” it barked.

“At ease, my child,” soothed Davros.

“That is…not possible!” yelped the Bronze Dalek. “Bio-scans indicate you are a member of the ancestral Kaled race! My scanners must have a fault!”

“Your scanners are functioning correctly!” replied a Drone Dalek. “That IS a Kaled! The last of the Kaleds! Our creator! Our…savior!”

The Doctor cautiously approached Shannon as she pulled out magnification glasses. “Which one do you think it is?” she asked Shannon.

“I think it’s this one right here,” replied Shannon as she pointed to the general area. The Doctor used her glasses to zoom in and find the tooth. It was rotten and riddled with holes!

“Oh, good grief! That’s beyond a mere cavity filling,” shuddered the Doctor. “I think an extraction’s needed. …Drat. I don’t have anesthetics. Ssylphiel, was it? You and your family hold her down. Maybe you too, Miss Blue Skinny Ursula.”

“…My name is Madame Calliope,” replied Calliope as her legs held Shannon down. Ssylphiel, Bea, and Coilzette helped hold Shannon down with their tails.

“I won’t sugar-coat it,” the Doctor said to Shannon, “this WILL hurt.”

“Just get it out, please!” groaned Shannon. The Doctor pulled out a pair of pliers meant for yanking teeth, then she got a hold on the rotten tooth. Shannon yowled in pain and thrashed when the pliers made contact with the tooth.

“Okay, okay, on three!” called the Doctor. “One! Two! THREE!” The Doctor yanked hard, stumbling backwards. Shannon howled in pain…then the pain died down. Shannon could actually feel the pain vanishing.

“…MY TOOTH!” she shouted.

“Right here!” replied the Doctor, holding the rotten tooth up with the pliers. “I’d cut back on the sweets and get a replacement tooth if you feel that self-conscious. And remember to floss or use a water pick.”

“The pain is gone! She’s cured me!” Shannon was smiling. “I’ll get that replacement tooth later! But as for her being a charlatan, Madame Calliope, that couldn’t be further from the truth!”

“Guards, drop all charges on our guests,” ordered Ssylphiel. “They’re free to use the palace as they see fit for their mission.”

“At once, Mistress Ssylphiel,” replied the Guard Commander.

“Well, it seems you ARE a doctor,” purred Calliope.

“Not A doctor, THE Doctor. The definite article, you might say. And this is my friend, Tysar.”

“Sorry about that whole tail thing,” Bea apologized to Tysar.

“Well, we DID blunder into your home,” replied Tysar.

“Now, since you did me a favor by curing Shannon of her pain, Doctor,” said Ssylphiel as she slithered back onto her throne, “perhaps I can repay you and help you?”

“That would be splendid, Madame,” replied the Doctor. “Perhaps I should bring you all into the picture.”

---

As a lab was being set up for the Doctor, she and Tysar explained things to everyone. “…I’m not sure I wanna meet this Davros character,” remarked Lukas.

“I never met him,” replied Tysar, “but his creations have terrorized my people for millennia, even forcing us off of Skaro.”

“…Doctor, you say you’re primarily an engineer, yes?” asked Calliope.

“Well, yes, and so’s Tysar,” answered the Doctor.

“Perhaps you can help us with a machine,” explained Calliope. “Ssylphiel and I found the machine in a country that borders ours. It’s capable of speech, but it always says four-syllable nonsense words before finishing what it’s saying with the word ‘Egg’. Hence why we’ve called it Egg.”

“What does Egg look like?” asked the Doctor.

“Well, it-.” Calliope was interrupted by the Guard Commander and his forces bringing the TARDIS into the lab. The Guard Commander was smiling.

“My apologies for this interruption, Mistress Ssylphiel,” he said, “but your great-aunt wanted to give you your birthday present.”

“Ah, the usual birthday present of an easy toppling of whatever war machine she’s created?” asked Ssylphiel.

“This one just looks goofy!” chuckled the Guard Commander.

“I take it your great-aunt doesn’t like you?” guessed the Doctor.

“Nope. She hates that us Goldcoils prefer to treat the non-Divine races as equals,” explained Ssylphiel.

“…You know, that sounds like a few Time Lords I knew. Some of them got over it, though.”

“Anacassandra refuses to get over that prejudice. …You wanna see her hair-brained scheme get toppled?”

“Sure!” The Doctor turned to Tysar. “How about you go see Egg?”

“I can bring her to Egg,” offered Shannon. “Madame Calliope, Lukas, you wanna come with?”

“We’d be delighted to!” replied Calliope.

“I guess Grandma and I will join Mama and the Doctor,” suggested Bea. “I have a bit of history with Anacassandra, so it’s always fun to see her schemes collapse.”

“Come along, my dears!” called Ssylphiel. “Let’s unwrap my birthday present!”

---

Ssylphiel, Coilzette, Bea, and the Doctor arrived on top of the citadel’s northern wall. …The war machine to the north was impressive looking, but the Doctor was holding back laughter. “…I’m not even an engineer like you, Doctor,” said Ssylphiel, “and I can see that thing’s flaws!” That made the Doctor collapse into a heap of giggles.

“Th-The top of-! …And the eastern-! …I’m sorry, I can’t-! AHAHAHAHA!” The Doctor picked herself up as her laughter wound down. “What kind of junk is Anacassandra using?!”

“Junk I’ve brought down before,” replied Ssylphiel. “Commander, bring out the boxing glove bolt.”

“Right away,” replied the Guard Commander.

“Boxing glove bolt?” asked the Doctor. She then saw the object. “…Exactly what it says on the tin, I see,” she mused as she saw a giant dart with a boxing glove replacing the pointy bit being loaded into a ballista. Ssylphiel cocked the ballista, aimed it, then fired it! The boxing glove bolt sailed through the air and struck the war machine on its top. The impact created a cascading collapse and the war machine was now a heap of junk with soldiers running away from the citadel.

“What did I tell you?” chuckled Ssylphiel. “Every year on mine and Calliope’s birthday.”

“Hasn’t learned much, has she?” mused the Doctor.

---

In a darkened room, watching the operation through a crystal ball, a man in black clothing and a naga woman like Ssylphiel saw the collapse of the machine. “FOOL!” shouted the man. “I told you this was a waste of time! That machine had too many weak points!”

“I’m not interested in excuses,” replied the naga. “The attack must continue if you want your prize.”

“This time, it will continue as I planned, Anacassandra!” snarled the man.

“Davros, you WILL show me the proper respect-!”

“Your plan is twisted and convoluted!” interrupted the man, Davros. “Mine understands the importance of simplicity!”

“…Very well,” replied Anacassandra. “We will try your plan. But should you fail, you WILL die!”

“You’ll see.” Davros then pulled out a communicator. “Bring out the explosives. Set the charges near the walls.”

---

“So people like Ssylphiel,” Tysar asked Shannon as the two of them went down the corridors of the palace with Calliope and Lukas, “act as the means for your gods to answer your prayers?”

“Complete with immortality and invulnerable bodies,” replied Shannon. “People like Calliope or Lukas can’t die by age or sickness, but other things CAN kill them. Then there’s people like me who can die. …At least, until Ssylphiel blessed me and the rest of the harem with agelessness.”

“And you willingly joined a harem?”

“Believe it or not,” remarked Calliope, “Ssylphiel is being smart here. Her illusion of hedonism gives her harem girls the perfect opportunity to gain intelligence on any enemies.”

“That’s part of the deal between me and Calliope,” said Lukas as he hung on her arm.

“Well, yes, but like Ssylphiel with her harem, I genuinely love you, my dear.” Calliope pecked Lukas’ forehead with a kiss.

“Here we are,” called Shannon. “Egg’s room. Tysar, it’s your show. The lights won’t activate until a few seconds after Egg speaks.”

“I understand,” said Tysar. She entered the room and shut the door behind her. In the dark, she saw a blue light. “…Well, you must be Egg,” she said. “I know you might have heard this before, but I’m here to help. My name is Tysar of New Davius. I came here with the Doctor.”

“…Doc…tor?” asked Egg. …As Egg spoke, a pair of cylindrical lamps flashed on each syllable. Fear gripped Tysar’s heart.

“…No!” she begged.

“New…Dav…i…us…” continued Egg in the same harsh, grating, metallic tones all Thals like Tysar fear. “…You are…a Thal. …Artron…energy…detected! You traveled here with the Doctor!” The lights came on and Tysar’s worst fears were confirmed! It had a cowl over the area where the eyestalk joined with the dome, had an id tag below the cowl, was bronze colored, and had rivets on its slats, but the plunger-shaped manipulator arm, the gunstick that looked like an elongated whisk, the eyestalk, the dome lamps that flashed on every syllable, the travel skirt that was covered in hemispheres, it all confirmed that Egg…was a Time War Era Dalek! “Exterminate! EXTERMINATE!” Tysar fled to the door.

“OPEN THE DOOR! QUICKLY!” she begged.

“EXTERMINATE!” shrieked the Dalek.

---

“Egg’s lost his mind!” yelped Calliope as Shannon opened the door.

“YOU ARE AN ENEMY OF THE DALEKS!” shouted the Dalek as Tysar got out. “YOU MUST BE DESTROYED!” Shannon shut the door and keyed in a combination on a number keypad. There was a definitive click.

“I’ve sealed that door,” she said. “It’s got a million combinations. Egg can’t get out.”

“Daleks are geniuses!” replied Tysar. “They can calculate a billion combinations in thirty seconds flat! We have to get to the Doctor NOW!”

The Doctor tapped the device against the console. “…Doctor?” asked Tysar.

“…If Davros learns secrets that are meant to stay in that universe…” muttered the Doctor.

“Doctor, who IS Davros?” asked Tysar. The Doctor arched an eyebrow.

“…I’m actually surprised to hear you say that,” she remarked. “You, of all people, heard of his creations, the Daleks.”

“…The Daleks are his creation?” asked Tysar.

“You think the Neutronic War on Skaro was between you and the Daleks?” quizzed the Doctor. “No. You Thals were just as brutal as your enemies, remember?”

“Yes, that’s why we adopted a pacifistic nature,” replied Tysar.

“Well, your enemies at the time were the Kaleds. Davros was the Chief Scientist for the Kaled Elite during that war. He saw that Kaleds can’t survive the radioactive world Skaro had become, not in their current humanoid form, so he took Kaled embryos and subjected them to experiments that mutated them and deemed them the ultimate evolution for the Kaled race. He then designed a travel machine based on his life support system and put the mutations into them, removing all pity and compassion. That’s when the Daleks came about.”

“But that war was centuries ago,” remarked Tysar. “How could this Davros cause trouble for people like the Toymaker?”

“That’s partially my fault. The Time Lords sent me back in time to try and avert the Daleks’ creation or alter them so they would be less aggressive. Davros captured me and my friends and tortured them so I would reveal how the Daleks were defeated. He must have altered his life support system somehow so he would still go on. I mean, he DID somehow survive being shot by the first Daleks. He was in stasis and, after another mess on Skaro during the Dalek-Movellan War, was revived and went on to bedevil the universe, even fighting in the Time War. I thought I saw his command ship fly into the jaws of the Nightmare Child, but a Dalek from the Cult of Skaro, Caan, saved him and brought him out of the war, despite the time lock around it. He then stole something from me that allows me to change my face when I’m about to die and now he’s back in his fully Kaled form instead of the halfway point between Kaled and Dalek.”

“So what does he want from that other universe?” pondered Tysar.

“…That’s what we need to find out and prevent,” replied the Doctor. She then pressed the yellow button. The TARDIS shuddered, not used to travelling between universes, but nothing broke.

---

Serpentia, a desert kingdom ruled by Ssylphiel Emerald Goldcoil. Like all the women in her family, she wore a blue rose in her hair. Her green skin shone in the sun as did the emerald scales of the snake tail replacing her legs. She was waiting at the southern gates of her citadel for her guests. The gates opened and in came a wagon with a giant tank of water that held Madame Calliope and Lukas. The wagon stopped by a waterway and opened the tank so Calliope and Lukas could better move around. The waterways used the entire citadel, even entering the main palace and going through multiple rooms. “Ssylphiel, my dear!” greeted Calliope once she and Lukas surfaced from the waterway.

“Welcome, Madame Calliope,” returned Ssylphiel. “I trust your journey was uneventful?”

“Oh, very much so, Ssylphiel,” replied Calliope. “How fares your family?”

“We’re prospering as are the people we rule. Yours?”

“Oh, we’re prospering too! As are my darlings like Lukas!” Calliope pulled Lukas closer to her.

“It’s true,” confirmed Lukas.

“I can see that,” remarked Ssylphiel.

“Well, what say we enjoy ourselves, hm?” suggested Calliope.

“Agreed,” replied Ssylphiel. The group then headed down the waterway and to the palace’s water gate.

---

As Ssylphiel and Calliope made their way to the castle, Bea and Coilzette were going through the castle with a redheaded Dwarf woman in a harem outfit and a rose in her hair. Her skirt and rose were green. “So, Nora,” remarked Coilzette, “I heard you dialed back your alcohol intake.”

“Aye,” replied the Dwarf, Nora. “I get a little too generous at the charity functions your daughter sets up and, well, my niece is calling me the Best Aunt Ever at the cost of 800,000 gold.”

“Good heavens!” yelped Bea. “What did you buy for-?!” She stopped herself when her ears twitched at a noise.

“…I hear it too,” replied Coilzette.

“What is that? Whooshing?” asked Nora.

“I think it went…vworp?” guessed Bea. “Anyways, it came from down there.” She pointed down the hall.

“Let’s go see,” declared Coilzette. She and Bea slithered at top speed with Nora running alongside them. They rounded a corner…and saw a blue box.

“…That does NOT match with Mama’s aesthetic,” remarked Bea. “And I didn’t get that as a gift for her or Calliope.”

“Look at the signs,” said Nora. “‘Police Public Call Box’, our police use green, though.” Bea read another sign.

“‘St. John’s Ambulance’, who’s St. John?”

“Hey, here’s the last sign,” said Coilzette. “‘Police Telephone. Free for use of Public. Advice & Assistance obtainable immediately. Officers and cars respond to all calls. Pull to open.’”

“Well, I think the instructions are pretty clear,” declared Bea. She put her hand on the door’s handle and pulled…only it didn’t open. “…Locked?” guessed Bea.

“Possibly,” replied Coilzette. Then…the doors swung inside.

“Hey, I thought the sign said ‘Pull to open’!” protested Nora.

“It did!” insisted Coilzette.

“Well, that looks like a person in our position would have to PUSH to open!”

“Maybe it’s a bit of added security?” guessed Bea.

“No, it’s just how my vehicle is built,” came a new voice from inside the box. The Doctor and Tysar then stepped out! “Though it DOES bamboozle anyone trying to get into my TARDIS.”

“INTRUDERS!” yelped Bea.

“It’s rude to point, you know!” protested the Doctor. “How about-?” She didn’t get very far as Bea wrapped her tail around Tysar and Coilzette wrapped hers around the Doctor. “OOF! Steady!”

“GUARDS!” called Nora. “WE HAVE A PAIR OF INTRUDERS!” Soldiers dressed in what looked like Ancient Egyptian and Roman armor adorned with imagery of serpents then arrived.

“What in-?!” spluttered the Guard Commander. “Who are these sand fleas?!”

“Sand fleas? That’s a new one,” remarked the Doctor.

“They managed to just appear here in that blue box!” replied Bea.

“How?!” asked a Guard.

“That’s what we’ll determine with my daughter and our guest’s help!” replied Coilzette. “Take the box to the throne room! Bea and I will bring the intruders!”

“Oh, lovely! Perhaps we can have some tea?” suggested the Doctor.

“Silence!” barked Bea as she and Coilzette slithered towards the throne room with their captives in their coils.

---

In the throne room, Ssylphiel, Lukas, Calliope, and a brunette human with a harem outfit like Nora’s, only her hair rose and skirt were red, were shooting the breeze. “I’m surprised Bea didn’t know that,” remarked Ssylphiel.

“I’m sure Nora’s confirming what your mother and I said is true,” mused Lukas. He then saw the harem girl rubbing her jaw. “Hey, Shannon, are you okay?”

“My tooth’s killing me,” mumbled the harem girl, Shannon.

“Well, you HAVE been hitting the sweets pretty hard,” remarked Ssylphiel.

“If you want, I can remove it for you,” offered Calliope.

“…No thank you,” replied Shannon frostily.

“As you wish. It would have been free of-.” Calliope was interrupted as Coilzette and her party entered the room. The guards set the TARDIS aside as Coilzette and Bea released the Doctor and Tysar from their coils. Ssylphiel rose from the throne.

“Mother, Bea, what is all this?!” she demanded. “Who are those two and where did that box come from?”

“The box is how these intruders got past security, Mama,” replied Bea. “We brought them here to get answers.”

“May I say, I’m terribly sorry for this shake-up,” said the Doctor. “For a minute there, it looked like we were going to be speared by your guards.”

“Whether or not I allow them to spear you is up to you, Madam!” warned Ssylphiel.

“I can assure you, we intended to land OUTSIDE your home and come in peacefully so we could talk properly,” soothed the Doctor. “One of my enemies has allied with a local tyrant here and-.”

“Serpentia has no shortage of tyrants that would destroy us,” said Ssylphiel. “Which one are you referring to?”

“I’m afraid we don’t know. We’re travelers from…well, from another universe.”

“…I’ve heard that our world isn’t the only one,” remarked Calliope. “And that the Gods had no hand in the other worlds’ creations.”

“I personally find that hard to believe,” scoffed Ssylphiel. “When Sanliel comes back, I shall-.” Shannon then groaned. “…Guards, throw our prisoners in the dungeon and find a dentist for Shannon.”

“Wait a minute!” called the Doctor. “What if I help her?”

“…Are you a traveling dentist?” asked Ssylphiel.

“Well, I have a doctorate in practically everything, my Lady,” replied the Doctor.

“Ssylphiel, I’m a businesswoman,” interjected Calliope, “and this woman is just screaming ‘charlatan’ to me!”

“That’s one of the more colorful names my enemies give me, outside of Doctor.”

“I’ll try anything,” said Shannon. “My tooth is killing me!”

“…Come forward and cure her if you can,” Ssylphiel directed the Doctor. “But I warn you, if you prove to be a charlatan as Madame Calliope suggests you are, well, even living gods like myself and my family fear the curse of ten thousand deaths!”

“…Charming,” mumbled the Doctor.

Under the waves of another world, a man opened his eyes. He yawned and stretched as he took the covers off to reveal that he had a fish tail instead of legs. Yes, this was a merman! He swam over to a closet and…you’d think he was going through a lady’s closet, given that there were skirts in there. But no, they were his clothes. The merman’s name was Lukas and, years ago, he had become a femboy servant and lover for a powerful sea witch, the great Madame Calliope. He pulled out his daily clothes, put them on, and fluffed the petticoats of his skirt. He then swam over to a vanity and looked himself in the mirror. “…Not just yet, but soon,” he said to his reflection. He then teased his hair, adorned the left of his head with a fascinator hat consisting of eight blue flowers and a veil, then he put on makeup. After all that, he smiled at his reflection. “Now you look good, Lovely Lukas!” he said to his reflection. Just then, his mirror went screwy as his reflection distorted itself. “What the-? Who’s calling me?” he pondered aloud. He put his finger to the edge of the mirror and two women appeared. One looked like an anthropomorphic bunny and the other looked like a green-skinned woman. They both wore a blue rose in the right of their hair.

“Lukas, is that you?” asked the bunny woman.

“Bea!” yelped Lukas. “And my Divine Coilzette!”

“Good morning, my dear Lukas,” greeted the green-skinned woman, Coilzette Mentalia Goldcoil, the Divine Naga that ruled the lands of Coilusa. She then gave her attention to the bunny girl, Bea Cottonhop Goldcoil, Coilzette’s adopted granddaughter. “Bea, is everything all right?”

“Well, Mama and Madame Calliope share a birthday and we’re supposed to set everything up, right?” asked Bea.

“Yes,” confirmed Lukas. “You’re in charge of the banquet, your grandmother’s working on accommodations for us water-folk since the venue’s gonna be in your home citadel in Serpentia, and I’m in charge of the decorations.”

“Well, the food’s all good,” said Bea. “I’m down to the cake and I just had a few questions.”

“All your mother and Calliope wanted,” interjected Coilzette, “was a sheet cake that acknowledged the two of them.”

“I got that,” replied Bea as she held up a sheet cake with a desert and underwater theme that said “Happy Birthday, Ssylphiel and Calliope” on it.

“That looks perfectly lovely,” said Lukas.

“Quite right,” agreed Coilzette. “So what’s the issue, Bea?”

“Well, the issue is, put together, Mama and Calliope have just over 10,000 years of collective life,” replied Bea.

“…Okay, what’s the issue with the cake itself?” asked Lukas.

“The issue is that there’s not enough room on the cake for 10,000 candles!” answered Bea.

“You sweet, summer child!” laughed Coilzette. “You weren’t planning on indicating their ages, were you?”

“…W-Well, yeah,” confirmed Bea, confused. “That’s what you do on a birthday cake.”

“Most of us Ageless folk don’t care for that when we hit our thirties,” explained Lukas. “Just put a fancy candle on each end of the cake so they both can blow one out.”

“…I thought the whole point of candles on a cake,” muttered Bea, “WAS to indicate how old someone was.”

“No, it was originally thought,” explained Coilzette, “that the smoke from the candles would carry your wishes and prayers up to the Gods. Humans may have popularized birthday cake candles, but we really owe this tradition to the Dwarves.”

“…Grandma, are you telling me that birthday candles are culturally appropriated?!” gulped Bea.

“Technically, yes, but since most modern-day Dwarves like Nora don’t know that bit of history, I think humans are okay grandfathering that one in.”

“…Well, that’s really all I had for the cake,” muttered Bea. “I’ll see you guys later today.”

“Looking forward to it!” cheered Coilzette.

“See you later!” bid Lukas. The call ended and a blue skinned woman with purple hair and eight black octopus tentacles instead of legs then swam into the room.

“Lukas, my lovely?” she asked. “Who were you talking to?”

“Just Bea and Coilzette, Madame Calliope,” replied Lukas. “…Is it true that the Dwarves are the actual inventors of birthday candles?”

“It’s true,” confirmed Calliope as one of her tentacles snaked its way over to Lukas and started coiling him. “So, a little issue with the cake, then?”

“The cake itself is lovely, Bea just wanted the issue with the candles settled.”

“Ah yes, she was a member of the Ageing Folk.” By now, Calliope had pulled Lukas close to her. “…Well, you look delightful as usual.”

“Thanks to you, Mistress,” replied Lukas as he hugged Calliope. Calliope kissed the top of his head lovingly.

“What say we head to Serpentia, then? For all our differences, a good meal in Ssylphiel’s palace is something we all can agree on.”

“Quite true, Mistress,” agreed Lukas. The two then headed off to say their goodbyes to the rest of Calliope’s staff.

---

In another dimension of swirling energy, a blue London Police Box spun through the energy, its lamp flashing. Inside the box…the laws of interior geometry were torn up as it was bigger on the inside! It was a spacious room with a central hexagonal control console with a cylinder going up and down. A woman with African features worked on the console. She wore a burgundy rose-themed outfit, complete with a rose headband. Her gloved fingers drummed one of the console panels as she growled to herself in frustration. “Come on! Come on! Where are you?!” she snarled.

“No chronal surge, Doctor?” asked another woman’s voice. The speaker stepped into the console room, brushing her platinum blonde hair.

“I don’t get it, Tysar!” replied the pilot of the machine, the Time Lord known as the Doctor. “The TARDIS has her sensors at capacity and so does Gallifrey! Where’s the next chronal surge?!”

“Doctor, there’s always a lull between them,” replied Tysar, a Thal from New Davius.

“And we need to take advantage of it!” retorted the Doctor. She checked the TARDIS’s instrument’s again. “…Still nothing! I-!” A green flash then appeared. “…What-?”

“Doctor, isn’t that the button Grand Zeno gave you?” asked Tysar.

“It is,” replied the Doctor as she grabbed the source of the flash, a circular device with a green button on one side, a yellow button on the other, and purple material making up the circumference. The green button was flashing. “This thing is only supposed to flash when Grand Zeno or one of his staff has a mission that requires mortals to solve. …Welp, in for a penny and all that!” The Doctor pressed the green button. A new flash of light then appeared and then faded away to reveal a woman in a blue dress with blue costume fairy wings and blue hair. The Doctor goggled in horror as she remembered that woman!

“Excellent!” praised the woman. “So you’re not too busy, Doctor?”

“Doctor, who is that?” asked Tysar.

“Tysar, get out of the console room!” hissed the Doctor.

“Oh, come, come, Doctor!” replied the blue woman. “There’s no need to fret. As you promised, Grand Zeno is a much better playmate than you or any mortals.”

“…Doctor, who IS that woman?” insisted Tysar. “Why are you so afraid of her?”

“…That’s the Celestial Toymaker,” answered the Doctor. “Her sick games result in you being her prisoner forever!”

“Not these days, Doctor,” replied the Toymaker. “I’m afraid the Grouping has caused considerable damage to not only your universe, but to the multiverse at large. And it’s spawned new universes outside of Zeno’s ideas.”

“So you want me to help you destroy them, is that it?” asked the Doctor.

“Hardly!” scoffed the Toymaker. “I easily convinced Zeno that such an act meant new games to play! No, this is something else. Someone intends to take advantage of this problem.”

“There are quite a number of people that would jump at the chance for multiversal travel. You’ll have to narrow it down.”

“Let’s just say that this particular person would cause trouble somehow if he continued putting his newfound knowledge of multiversal travel to his own ill purposes, trouble that has given Grand Zeno and I pause.”

“You’re afraid of this person?” The console room darkened for a brief moment, making the Toymaker look scarier than she usually does. It brightened up later when the Toymaker sighed.

“…Yes, we are,” she admitted. “Doctor, this person would seek the eradication of all things, from us gods to mortals.”

“Oh, come on!” argued the Doctor. “Who could possibly worry you-?!”

“Davros!” The console room went silent, even the TARDIS stopped making its usual noises at the mention of Davros’ name.

“…Davros?” the Doctor asked in confirmation. The Toymaker nodded. “…What is he doing that has you so worried?”

“He’s already learned about multiverse theory,” replied the Toymaker. “I’m sure you recall his reality bomb. It really would have worked against us had you not stopped him in time. As for the current crisis about him, we foresee a time where he will have destroyed all other life in the multiverse.”

“That’s always been his aim. Go on.”

“After your last encounter with him, he used his DARDIS to flee and gather allies, then he altered his craft to go between universes and go after one who went to a foreign universe during the Time War.”

“Is he in that universe now?” asked the Doctor.

“He’s made an alliance with a local tyrant,” replied the Toymaker. “Right now, what he seeks is in the hands of that tyrant’s enemies. So I want you, Doctor, to send Davros and his allies back to their correct universe.”

“…All right, I’ll do it,” declared the Doctor. “Just one thing, give my TARDIS a means to get there and back.”

“Doctor, you forget,” chuckled the Toymaker. “The yellow button will get you there and the rim of the device will get you back once your mission is complete. I’ve already put the coordinates into the yellow button, so press it when you’re ready. Good luck.” The Toymaker then vanished.